According to the most recent data from the American Diabetes Association and CDC, more than 29 million Americans have diabetes. But even more importantly, another 86 million—or one in three—have pre-diabetes. Without effective intervention, it is estimated that 15%-20% of these individuals will develop diabetes within five years. The International Diabetes Federation reports the global incidence of diabetes at 387 million people. It is expected that this number will grow to 592 million people over the next 20 years.
Diabetics often have higher rates of cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, neurological, thyroid diseases, and ophthalmological complications compared to people without diabetes. Patients with diabetes often may receive a wide array of medications including injectable long-acting and rapid-acting insulins, inhaled insulin, oral medications, and other injectable anti-diabetic medications. Among the different classes of medications, some medications are contraindicated for pregnancy or patients with severe kidney disease. Moreover, other medications which are appropriate for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, are contraindicated for Type 1 diabetes.